The lurid London murder of former Russian secret agent Alexander Litvinenko with polonium-210 looks set to equal the tale of Jack the Ripper as a generator of inconclusive theories that open the way for ever more books.
``The Terminal Spy'' by Alan S. Cowell of the New York Times is the latest installment.
German prosecutors have dropped the case against a suspect in the murder of the Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, in London.
Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium-210.
Hamburg prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to continue investigating Russian Dmitri Kovtun.
German prosecutors have dropped the case against a suspect in the murder of the Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, in London.
Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died in 2006 after he was poisoned with the radioactive substance polonium-210.
Hamburg prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to continue investigating Russian Dmitri Kovtun.
An inquest is to be opened into the deaths of two Manchester University academics who died of pancreatic cancer after working for years in the building where Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, conducted his experiments.
The Manchester coroner, Nigel Meadows, has acted after hearing from the families of the two academics that their deaths may be linked to deposits of nuclear materials still contaminating the building in which the pioneering scientist worked, now known as the Rutherford Building. These materials include polonium, which killed Alexander Litvinenko, as well as radon and mercury.
An inquest is to be opened into the deaths of two Manchester University academics who died of pancreatic cancer after working for years in the building where Ernest Rutherford, the father of nuclear physics, conducted his experiments.
The Manchester coroner, Nigel Meadows, has acted after hearing from the families of the two academics that their deaths may be linked to deposits of nuclear materials still contaminating the building in which the pioneering scientist worked, now known as the Rutherford Building. These materials include polonium, which killed Alexander Litvinenko, as well as radon and mercury.
"A whistleblower has accused Olympic Dam of exposing its workers to dangerous radiation levels - a claim BHP Billiton has denied.
The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has backed the company, saying it was not an issue.
But Greens MP Mark Parnell says the levels of polonium-210 are above the company's health standards and the whistleblower told him workers are being put at risk, with too few safeguards at Olympic Dam.
Mr Parnell said the substance was a dangerous toxic by-product of uranium production that could kill an 80 kilogram person with one microgram."
I am very concerned about the possible nuclear reactor in Saskatchewan, and scared to death that it could be in the Prince Albert area. It is bad enough that we are mining the uranium out of the ground, but to build a reactor would be insane. There is no safe storage option for uranium products and wastes. Radium, radon gas and polonium are highly radioactive byproducts. Storage methods are at best controversial and at worst responsible for death and a toxic legacy for generations.
Mining poses serious health risks. Radon gas is a known cancer-causing agent. Uranium mining can poison water sources. Reactors need a lot of water. They, too, can leak radioactive substances into both watersheds and ground water.
James Lovelock
Normally the media can smell a rat better than a hungry terrier, and I was slightly surprised that they did not wonder more about the murder of the Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 in London.
He was cruelly poisoned by a few hundred nanograms of the radioactive isotope polonium210. When swallowed it soon finds its way to every cell of the body, where it emits helium atoms that plough through the vital structures. An evil way to kill someone: a slow, unstoppable, tortured death.
Sellafield is the site of Britain's worst nuclear accident. A blaze in 1957 in the reactor of Pile 1 released a massive plume of radioactive caesium, iodine and polonium that spread across Britain and northern Europe.
Up to 200 cases of cancer - including thyroid and breast cancer and also leukaemia - may have been triggered by the fire's emissions, according to estimates which were published by epidemiologists led by Professor Richard Wakeford, of Manchester University, two years ago.
"Exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky won £150,000 ($220,000, 165,000 euros) in libel damages on Wednesday over a claim he was linked to the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.
A judge in London said there was "no evidence" that Berezovsky -- a fierce critic of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- was behind the poisoning by radiation of Litvinenko in 2006.
"I can say unequivocally that there is no evidence before me that Mr. Berezovsky had any part in the murder of Mr. Litvinenko," said judge David Eady, handing down his ruling at the High Court.
"Nor, for that matter, do I see any basis for reasonable grounds to suspect him of it," he added."
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